Page 9 of Blue Arrow Island (Blue Arrow Island #1)

He was a killer, a thing that preyed, living on the things that lived, unaided, alone, by virtue of his own strength and prowess, surviving triumphantly in a hostile environment where only the strong survive.

– Jack London, White Fang

“Way too slow.” Pax grabs the bottom of my boot as I’m about to land a roundhouse kick to his chest and shoves me away from him.

I crash to the ground, mud sloshing into my armpits and hair as I land on my back. More mud, because I was already covered in it.

Mud is a decent makeshift sunscreen during afternoon training sessions, when the sun is at peak incineration levels.

Rain showers are a welcome break from the sun’s punishing rays, but they never last long.

The baseline weather here is a hellish inferno.

If we had eggs—or concrete—we could definitely do the sizzling egg on pavement thing.

It’s my second day training full-time with Pax. I actually miss working in the kitchen, but this is where I need to be. Sharpening my fighting skills and making powerful allies. I won’t give Marcelle a second chance to kill me.

“Have you heard of Moringa?” I ask as I get to my feet, wiping my hands on my already filthy T-shirt.

“Nope.”

“It’s native to...I think it’s India, but you can find it other places. It thrives in tropical environments. It’s a good source of protein, fiber, several vitamins and folic acid, which pregnant women need.”

He creases his brow in thought. “I’m trying to figure out if you’re cute when you’re muddy or cute when you talk about plants and get all excited. Or is it both?”

I brush off his compliment, hoping his good mood will help me get what I want.

“I can identify edible plants. I know you guys have had some bad experiences eating plants in the past, but I can test them to make sure they’re safe. I’ll test them on myself.”

He shakes his head. “I’d kinda prefer you stay alive, actually.”

“I know what I’m doing. I can test plants without killing myself. This could be really good for the camp, especially the pregnant women.”

“Yeah. Okay. We’ll go out for a few hours tomorrow and see what we can find.”

I just nod so I don’t risk saying something that could make him change his mind. I didn’t think it would be that easy. If I can find some plants to supplement the camp diet, it will add much-needed nutrition and calories. And plants replenish themselves much more quickly than fish and boar.

It’s midmorning, and the training area is full of people at work. There are ones and twos doing muddy pushups and threes returning from swimming in the ocean. A group of three fours approaches me and Pax, all of them drenched with sweat after a run.

Two of them are women, one of whom is pregnant. Her bowling-ball-sized belly looks out of place on her tiny frame. Pregnant women who aren’t getting enough food shouldn’t be burning the calories these women do, but I know better than to say that.

“You want us to get started with the kids, Commander?” the man asks.

“Yeah, go ahead. You know what to do. We’ll be there soon.”

The other woman is tall, her long black hair tied back at the nape of her neck. She’s giving me a cool, assessing gaze.

“You’re a one, aren’t you?” she asks.

I hold out my wrist with the bracelet. “What gave me away?”

Pax laughs softly beside me. “Cool your shit, Yelena. Briar’s cool.”

“I’m sure.” Her voice is laced with sarcasm.

The man nudges Yelena’s arm. “Let’s go.”

She glares at me for a couple more seconds before the three of them leave. I blow out a sigh.

“The women here just love me. It’s these, isn’t it?” I hold up my wrists so the X tattoos face him.

“Not for Yelena. It’s jealousy.”

I roll my eyes. “Right. Because I’m a one and I belong in the kitchen.”

“No.” Pax’s eyes are locked onto me, swirling with intensity. “That’s not why.”

My body warms, an invisible connection between us tugging at me. I don’t want to get involved with anyone, because it would sidetrack me from what’s most important. But when I’m around Pax, my body doesn’t seem to care about the plans my mind has.

I avoid his gaze. “She’s welcome to switch places with me and find out what it feels like to have mud in places you never thought mud would be.”

His lips turn up in a smile. “No one’s switching places with you.”

He glances over each shoulder like he’s making sure no one can overhear him. My stomach knots because even though I feel a pull of attraction, I won’t give into it, and I don’t want to have to shoot down one of the two most powerful people in this camp.

“There’s something you need to know. Did Marcelle tell you about the circle?”

“No.”

He presses his lips together tightly, his expression grim. “Yeah, I figured. We’re about peace, order and prosperity here—you already know that. And part of prosperity is creating a new generation of Rising Tiders.”

My attention snags on his use of the word “creating.” Most people don’t consider their children creations. But he’s not hitting on me, and that’s a win. So I listen and don’t interrupt him.

“Some of the women here...” He stops, seeming to consider. “I don’t know how to put it. They love having babies. They think it’s their most important role here.”

I put my palms up. “I have no problem with that. If it’s their choice, it’s their business.”

“We agree with that. The X tats are...all-encompassing, I guess. They don’t explain each woman’s individual circumstances.”

I narrow my eyes, not liking where he’s going with this. “I don’t owe anyone explanations.”

“I agree.” He steps closer to me. “Look, my point is...I think you probably got jumped by a group of women who judged you based on that ink. And if you give me their names, they’ll be disciplined for it.”

I shrug and look away. “I didn’t get a good look at any of them.”

“Bullshit,” he mumbles before clearing his throat. “Anyway, probation lasts thirty days here. Then you’re a full-fledged one. And once that happens, any other one can ask you to step into the circle with them.”

I cross my arms. “What does that mean?”

“We have a circle over by the beach. An actual circle, where two people fight. There are rules: no weapons, no one else can enter the circle under any circumstances, and only one person walks out of the circle.”

I just stare at him for a couple long, dumbfounded seconds as I digest his words. “You mean...fight to the death?”

“Yeah. I’ve been in the circle a few times myself. And if you don’t tell me who attacked you, I’m pretty sure you’ll end up there on your thirty-first day here.”

His statement hangs in the air between us. It makes sense, then, why Marcelle didn’t kill me. She’s not allowed to beat me to death in her room, but in front of everyone else, it’s fine.

This place is fucked .

“That’s good to know.” I put my fists in front of me in a defensive stance. “Are you ready to go again?”

He exhales heavily, running a hand through his hair. “Briar, you’re not hearing me.”

“I hear you fine.”

“You don’t know how ruthless Tiders are.”

I throw my arms in the air and laugh, though I’m more angry than amused.

“Add it to the list of things I don’t know around here.

Why are there wolves? Why can fours run five miles in twenty minutes, and then do it again right after, like they just took a little stroll in the park?

How did I recover from that beating in three days? ”

He closes the last of the distance between us, so close I can feel the heat of his body. I tip my chin up so I can meet his gaze.

“This island is special,” he says in a low tone. “In time, you’ll see how.”

“You answered exactly zero of my questions.”

“Yeah, well...there’s a reason for that. I’m trying to help you here. If you want to live long enough to really experience what’s special about the island, you need to train every waking hour. You’re less than three weeks away from getting called to the circle.”

I’m failing. My plan was to lie low. Keep quiet, not make any waves, and bide my time. Learn what I can without anyone realizing I’m doing it. Stay focused on my goal of finding a way off this island. Instead, I’m showing Pax every single one of my cards.

“Okay, I understand.” I try to look apologetic. “You’re right. Let’s train some more.”

He nods. “No more roundhouse kicks. You finish those two business days after you start them. Fight dirtier.”

“Okay.”

I told him what I was thinking just now, and that was a mistake. I’m being smarter about the training, though. He knows I’m good at defending myself because doing so is instinctive. I can’t let people land punches on me when I know how to evade them.

He thinks my offensive skills are weaker. They aren’t. I’m deliberately holding back during training because I don’t want anyone here to know how strong a fighter I really am.

That’s one card I won’t play unless I have no choice.

An hour later, Pax is leading me through the jungle, the trail we’re on wide enough to accommodate three people walking side by side. It’s a different trail than the one we took from the beach to the Rising Tide camp.

The jungle is alive with monkeys chattering and birds singing, the steady hum of insects a constant in the background. A bright-green snake slithers up a nearby branch and I lean over, trying to get a closer look at it to identify the species.

“Stay in the middle of the trail.” Pax is carrying a spear, his demeanor serious and alert. “And don’t touch anything. You can die just from touching some of the stuff here.”

“Are there dart frogs? I’ve always wanted to see a blue poison dart frog.”

He squints skeptically. “This isn’t a zoo. Shit will kill you before you even know it’s happening.”

I stop myself from saying I know how to be careful.

I still have suspicions about the purpose of this island.

Are people being trained for death matches in the jungle?

And other than wolves, what else was brought here?

The usual rules about predators and prey don’t apply if humans are intervening and adding species that don’t belong here.

After another five minutes of walking in silence, the trail opens up. My eyes widen as I take in my surroundings. Blue Arrow Island just got a whole lot weirder.

It looks like a modern private school campus, the sprawling brick building rising up two stories.

A man is tending to the landscaping that surrounds the building, which is meticulously cared for, free of weeds and full of brightly colored tropical blooms. A wide, rectangular sandstone slab is set into the landscaping, the words “Peace,” “Order,” and “Prosperity” each engraved on its own line.

I follow Pax up the concrete stairs. A man in the same olive pants, white T-shirt and boots worn by everyone at the Rising Tide camp nods at him.

“Commander.”

“Hey, Ray. This is Briar.”

Ray nods politely at me, his gaze jumping to the bracelet that identifies me as a one.

“I’m mentoring her,” Pax explains.

He keeps walking. The inside of the building is just as muggy as everywhere else is here, the air stagnant. There are no windows on the front of the building, but there are a few on the second story of the wall opposite the entrance, bright light shining through them onto the white marble flooring.

The lobby area is large and open, nothing adorning the walls. There are double doors ahead of us and a door on each of the side walls.

We go to the double doors. Pax opens them and nods to another guard on the other side.

After walking through the doorway, I find myself in a huge courtyard, at least fifty young children in different areas around it. Why didn’t I realize sooner that there are pregnant women in camp, but no children?

“I just need to have a quick conversation,” Pax says, gesturing toward a wooden bench beneath the shaded overhang of the building.

I sit, keeping my expression impassive as I take in my surroundings.

The children range from barely able to walk to maybe eight years old.

All of them wear miniature versions of the uniform Pax and I have on.

Their skin color ranges from very light to very dark, as does their hair.

They all have the same close-cropped style, maybe an eighth of an inch of hair on their scalps.

An alarm blares inside my head. This place isn’t right. None of the children are laughing or playing. Even the youngest of them is standing in line, watching and listening.

I babysat before the virus came. I’ve never seen such compliant children.

The man we saw at the training area is leading a group of older kids in a drill.

They all run about eight feet before leaping into the air, my lips parting when I see more than twelve feet of air between some of them and the ground.

After hanging in the air for longer than they should be able to, they drop back down one after the other, all of them landing in a predatory crouch.

Yelena is leading a younger group in a drill with short wooden staffs, all the kids moving in perfect unison. They can twist and pass the staff from one hand to the other easily, without even looking at it.

They look like they’re playing dress-up as soldiers, but it’s disgustingly real. I suddenly long for the blissful ignorance of meat prep with Rona. This is what the pregnant women at Rising Tide are creating—soldiers for the Whitman regime.

The youngest of the kids here, who should be toddling along and babbling, are instead sprinting down lanes outlined with rock, other stone-faced kids watching them.

I control my breathing, trying to quell the tears pooling in my eyes. Of all the things I’ve seen on this island that are outside the laws of science, this is the most disturbing and egregious. It makes me feel sick.

“Hey, I’m all set.” Pax looks down at me from beside the bench I’m sitting on. “You okay?”

I smile, knowing it’s going to take some world-class deception to eventually get myself out of here. “Yeah, I’m good. I just got emotional seeing all the kids. I love kids.”

His expression brightens. “Yeah? Me too.”

Fucking liar. No one who loves kids stands by and lets them be treated this way. Someone did something to these children, and it robbed them of what it means to be human.

Whitman. It all goes back to Whitman. My rage for him and every member of his regime burns white hot as I follow Pax out of the little soldier compound.

They’ll pay. Even if it takes my entire life to figure out how to make them pay for this and everything else they’ve done, I’ll find a way.